Miguel Rodriguez

Rodriguez 1

English 115HON
Professor Lawson
Research Paper: Rough Draft
Word Count: 1,958
27 November 2016
Project 3
Our society has been greatly saturated by advertisements. We are often confronted by
advertisements wherever we go. Many advertisers usually, but not always, tend to feature white
men with rock-hard abs and defined chest and shoulder muscles when it comes to advertising
certain products. Some of these muscular men could be spotted in Calvin Klein, Abercrombie
and Fitch and Nivea Men advertisements. Since these advertisements only focus on masculinity
and low-body fat, the state of mind, behavior and self-esteem of numerous men and boys
throughout the world has been gradually affected by the limitation and advertisement of what is
considered the ideal male body.
Advertisements have a direct correlation on how men and boys perceive themselves,
according to Bianca London who states how distorted body images in the media cause young
adults to consider themselves as too thin or too fat when they are actually a perfectly healthy
weight (Boys have body issues too). Men and boys who are exposed to these perfect bodies
believe that they are not healthy or that their body is not good enough, since they do not match
the body they see in advertisements. By the media misleading the public of what is considered
the perfect body, men and boys start to become self-conscience about their weight, drastically

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affecting their state of mind, which could be seen in Cruzs article when she reveals how a new
study conducted on adolescent boys, who were extremely concerned about their weight, were
more likely to suffer from depression (Body-Image Pressure). The idealization of male body in
advertisements is responsible for the depression of many men and boys because they begin to
believe that the only way society will accept them is if they have bodies like the ones the media
favors.
By the media favoring exaggerated muscularity and leanness, there is no surprise of the
prevalent steroid use among adolescents. For example, in Cruzs article, a 2012 study states that
six percent of both middle school and high school male students admitted to using steroids in
order to boost their muscularity (Body-Image Pressure). Since adolescents are constantly
pressured and reminded on how ones body should look like, images of the ideal male body in
advertisements encourage them to result to steroids or other unhealthy muscle enhancing
supplements in order for them to achieve their desired body quicker. However, resulting to
steroids has a consequential impact on our behavior, which we could observe in Vanessa
Benningtons article Male Body Image And The Pressure To Use Steroids. In her article we are
introduced to Patrick Hall, a former competitive bodybuilder, who was heavily involved in
steroid use in order to appear stronger. Although Hall was able to achieve his desired physique
thanks to steroids, he began to notice that steroids made him aggressive, edgy, and just not
himself (Male Body Image). Majority of men and boys are aware of what steroids can do to
your behavior, but the thought of acquiring a muscular body just like the ones in the media,
causes these men to ignore the serious side effects of steroids. Advertisements of the perfect
body are the main reason why steroids are so popular in the first place. If advertisers would not
focus so much on muscularity, then males would most likely avoid steroids. In addition, since the

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ideal male body in advertisements only include men with low-body fat percentage, men now
have ten percent of all eating disorders (Male Body Stereotypes). By advertising these men with
perfect bodies, the behavior of mens eating habits change, causing them to develop severe
eating disorders because they begin to stay away from certain carbohydrates, unsaturated fats or
sugars in order to keep their body fat at a minimum.
With suicides being often connected to body image, there is no doubting the strong
influence the media has on the public. For example, in Joel Araks article Body Image Issues
And Teen Suicide, Arak mentions teens who perceived themselves at either weight extremevery fat or really skinny- were more than twice as likely as normal-weight teens to attempt or
think about suicide (Body Image). Our society is greatly obsessed with the idea of looking
perfect. Every male wants to have those muscular abs, chest and shoulders just like the ones in
media, but these males do not realize that everything is edited. Editors control biceps and triceps
size, number of visible packs on our stomach and most importantly, the bulkiness. By the media
presenting the male body as unrealistic and unnatural, males begin to realize that the bodies in
advertisements are practically unachievable. In addition, Salenna Russello states how low selfesteem [] can cause one to be more susceptible to media images (The Impact of Media).
People with low-esteem are already self-conscience about their insecurities, but when they see
the media favoring people only with exaggerated muscularity and no fat, their self-esteem lowers
even more, which could lead them to a deep-depression or even suicide. Advertisements of the
perfect body are linked to numerous suicidal thoughts and even suicides across the world
because they are promoting a fictitious male body, which men and boys cannot live up to.
Although perfect body advertisements have an effect on mens and boys state of mind,
behavior and self-esteem, some people claim that these advertisements are in fact valuable to our

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society. In Jocelyn Novecks article Experts: Men Have Body Image Worries Too, David
Zinczenko, editor of Mens Health magazine and a best-selling diet author, says that whats
good about that image [Abercrombie and Fitch ad] is that its the picture of health. With
diabetes rates skyrocketing over the past 70 years, a little more lean wouldnt hurt us
(Experts: Men Have). Zinczenko argues that these advertisements of the perfect body give
men and boys a visualization of a healthy lifestyle, which could possibly motive them to change
their unhealthy habits. However, Zinczenko fails to acknowledge what men and boys are actually
doing to themselves and their body in order to replicate the picture of health. As mentioned
above, men and boys are harming themselves by resulting to steroids and by avoiding vital
nutrients that their body desperately needs. In addition, Zinczenkos argument could be
considered weak by quoting Lemberg, who mentions that only 1 or 2 percent of [males] actually
have that body type (minimal proportion of fat and substantial proportion of muscle) (qtd. in
Body-Image Pressure). Not everyone will achieve a body like the ones the media favors, even
if they decide to pursue a healthy lifestyle, whether that is going to the gym, tracking their
calories or staying away from certain foods, because each body type is different. Our bodies are
all unique in our own way and that is the reason why men and boys should not be constantly
pressured to match societys impossible body standards.
Connected to the idealization of the male body in advertising is the limitation of body
types among male models. When was the last time you saw an overweight male promoting a
Calvin Klein perfume? Or the last time saw a scrawny male on the cover of Tommy Hilfiger?
The answers to both of these questions were probably never. Popular advertisements such as
Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger tend to stay away from overweight or scrawny males and only
include muscular men and as a result, it damages these mens self-esteem and confidence. By

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advertisers limiting who can and cannot advertise their product, these overweight or scrawny
males believe that their body is useless, since they do not fit into societys categories
characterized as attractive or manly. In addition, in the article Why black models are rarely in
fashion, Freeman addresses the favoritism of whites in advertisements and mentions how black
models never, with single-digit exceptions in a decade, appear on the cover of major fashion
magazines (Freeman). Not only are advertisers limiting body types, they are continuously
limiting skin color. By limiting models based on their color of their skin, the state of mind of
minorities will be undermined because they will feel unappreciated, making them to believe that
they do not belong in society, since they are not in the frequent spotlight like other races.
Diversity in advertisements needs to be a main priority for advertisers because not only would
diverse models give minorities a sense of belonging, they would also reflect the various cultural,
ethnic, and racial groups that could be seen throughout the United States.
Men and boys should not have to live their life in fear, afraid of being body-shamed, just
because they do not have a six-pack or defined chest and shoulder muscles like the men in
Calvin Klein, Abercrombie and Fitch and Nivea Men advertisements. Men and boys should not
have to result to steroids or other dangerous muscle enhancing supplements just to replicate the
men they see in advertisements. Men and boys should not have to change their eating habits,
causing them to develop dreadful eating disorders, just to mimic the low-body fat percentage that
men possess in advertisements. Men and boys should not have to suffer from depression, low
self-esteem or low confidence just because their body is not built to put on extreme muscle and
most importantly, men and boys should not have to be victims of suicide just because they
cannot live up to societys absurd body standards. As a society, we need to unite and put an end
to these perfect body advertisements. We need to show advertisers that by them favoring men

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with exaggerated muscularity and no fat, they are gradually affecting many men and boys both
mentally and physically. How many more suicides need to happen in order for the public to
realize that perfect body advertisements are detrimental to the youth? How many more men
and boys need to suffer from depression, low self-esteem and severe eating habits in order for the
public to realize that muscular male bodies in commercials, billboards and magazines are
destructive? How many more men and boys are we going to keep in shadows, petrified to display
their body, due to these advertisements? If we, as a society, want to see a significant drop in
suicides, depression and eating disorders among men and boys, then advertisers will need to start
respecting and accepting the different types of male bodies. Overweight and scrawny males
should be given the same opportunity as muscular men; they should feature in numerous
commercials, billboards and magazines in order to appeal to the rest of the public. By advertisers
balancing male body types, advertisements would not be responsible for the depression or low
self-esteem of men and boys, since they are not pressured to look only one way. However, if
advertisers continue to include only muscular men in their advertisements, then suicides,
depression and eating disorders among men and boys will significantly increase. Advertisers
need to understand that not every male body is capable of having rock-hard abs and defined chest
and shoulder muscles. Every male body is designed differently and thats what makes us unique.
No one should have to change who they are because of advertisements. If all males had the
perfect body, there would be no uniqueness among men, resulting in a dull environment. How
would it make you feel knowing that someone you love suffers from a deep-depression because
despite all of their effort, their body still does not meet societys body standards? How they
developed severe eating disorders by restricting their body to only a specific amount of calories
every day and by avoiding vital nutrients just to keep their body-fat levels at a minimum? How

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they attempted suicide because they are repeatedly body-shamed by advertisements, telling them
how ones body should look like? Would you still be in favor of perfect body advertisements?

Works Cited

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Arak, Joel. Body Image Issues And Teen Suicide. CBS News. The Associated Press, 6 June
2005. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.
Bennington, Vanessa. Male Body Image And The Pressure To Use Steroids. Breaking Muscle.
Breakingmuscle.com, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.
Cruz, Jaime. Body-Image Pressure Increasingly Affects Boys. The Atlantic. The Atlantic
Monthly Group, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.
Freeman, Hadley. Why black models are rarely in fashion. The Guardian. Guardian News and
Media Limited, 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.
Godsey, Chris. "Male Body Stereotypes." Body Image, edited by Auriana Ojeda, Greenhaven
Press, 2003. Teen Decisions. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
London, Bianca. Boys have body issues too. Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers Ltd, 15
Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
Noveck, Jocelyn. Experts: Men Have Body Image Worries Too. Washington Post. The
Associated Press, 6 Oct. 2006. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
Russello, Salenna. The Impact of Media Exposure. Journal of Interdisciplinary
Undergraduate Research. Vol. 1, Article 4. 2013: 1-13. Print.